Chapter: 45. Is It Sour?
These relatives come in groups to congratulate you on your birthday, but ultimately, it’s just to make things easier.
Because think about it, instead of each one coming individually to offer their congratulations, they might as well form a group—those who can talk encourage the shy ones, and the shy ones support the silent ones, making everyone’s blessings seem sincere!
It must be said that the genetics of the Light Family are quite strong.
These people, in terms of appearance, are all handsome men and beautiful women, and aside from the standard training that nobles must undergo, their movements are synchronized, with white and gold-trimmed cuffs giving off an aura of intensity forged on the battlefield.
A group always needs a leader.
Leading the way at the front is a golden-haired man with narrowed eyes and a smile, sporting a fringe—he should be the eldest among their generation.
Before they approached.
—Xiya silently held onto Princess Xue Fei’s small hand.
“Xiya?”
“No problem, hold my hand tightly, and after we send them off, I’ll take you to eat cake.”
“Hey, there’s no rush, as long as the cake isn’t taken away, it doesn’t matter whether it’s early or late! So… the cake won’t be taken, right?”
“It won’t, tonight’s cake is unlimited.”
“Then that’s great! I’m super patient!”
Miss Shaya, who was anxiously pacing before, suddenly felt her confidence boost upon hearing this!
As the family line was about to reach them…
The golden-haired man slightly spread his palm, and his smile became even brighter.
“Oh, oh…! Cousin Xiya! The star of this banquet has finally arrived! We’ve been waiting for you!”
With this as a starting point, the family members following him began to chime in one after another, their voices overlapping and creating such a racket that it was impossible to distinguish who was who.
“Happy birthday, cousin!”
“Congratulations!”
“Victory and a birthday, our Light Family has been on a roll lately!”
“……”
More than ten people speaking at once could overwhelm ordinary folks.
But Xiya remained calm and, after slightly nodding to express her gratitude to these relatives.
She only spoke to the front leader, which sufficed as a response to the whole group.
“Cousin Carl, thank you for specifically bringing everyone over. I appreciate your goodwill and wish all my cousins good fortune.”
“Haha, then thank you for your blessing, cousin Xiya! We hope to share in your birthday luck!”
Carl Light is the eldest son of Xiya’s uncle.
Xiya’s father, as the current head of the Light Family, ranks second in age within the family. Xiya’s uncle is the oldest, and Carl Light is his son and slightly older than others of the same generation.
Upon hearing Xiya’s words, Carl smiled without revealing any hint of his true feelings, finally opening his narrowed eyes to reveal their bright blue sharpness.
If observed just by his expression, he seemed a bit worried.
“Indeed, good fortune… When it comes to our family’s affairs, isn’t it about protecting the home and increasing strength? Alas… it’s a pity that this heavy burden is entirely on you, cousin. We, your older brothers and sisters, have fallen far behind you and can’t help you, and it weighs on our conscience.”
Wow, this person is a bit hypocritical!
This was Princess Xue Fei’s direct judgment after hearing his words.
If you really felt worried, you wouldn’t say such things. Go train in the deep mountains to increase your strength! Yet you come here to grab cake, isn’t this just putting on an act?!
Xiya was unaware of Princess Xue Fei’s rapid-fire thoughts.
But when she heard Carl’s words, she also felt uneasy.
“Cousin is too kind.” Xiya gently shook her head to correct him, “If I’m not mistaken, cousin Carl has already broken through to the Ninth Stage, right? The king invited courtiers to a celebration banquet, but you didn’t come because you were stationed at the northern polar border, confronting the Fourth Demon Army, right? With such achievements, how can you say you are unable to help?”
“Haha…hahahaha! Cousin Xiya, you certainly haven’t grown in vain this past year! You’ve become much more eloquent!”
This was a remark Xiya felt too lazy to respond to.
Eloquent simply meant that this was indeed the reply that should be made.
It also represented that even he acknowledged that the previous remark about “feeling guilty” was merely polite talk, indicating to Xiya not to take it seriously.
After laughing, Carl turned to look around at the others, then turned back to continue speaking.
“Ninth Stage is still not enough. You see, we may be older than you, but most of us are stuck at the Sixth or Seventh Stage without making progress, unlike cousin Xiya, who has reached the Tenth Stage at such a young age and is ready to take on the responsibilities of a hero. Oh, by the way! I just returned to the capital and heard that cousin captured the First Princess of the Demon Race by herself—is that really true?!”
“Yes, yes, it is true, brother Carl!” came an eager confirmation from the family line behind, “Cousin captured the First Princess of the Demon Race on the battlefield a few days ago. Now, everyone in the capital knows about it—brother, you’ve fallen behind in news!”
“Is it actually true…! Cousin, I must congratulate you! This achievement is no joke—it will definitely be recorded in history. Never before has a hero achieved such a feat! Now that I think about it… it’s only natural that the Holy Sword chose you as its hero, don’t you all agree?”
This time, the inquiry only earned a few faint smiles from the people behind.
Such an atmosphere did not make Carl feel awkward; he continued to wear a bright smile.
“If given the chance… I would also like to have a go at that legendary Six-Winged Demon Princess. Even if the odds of winning are slim, being able to battle such a top-tier expert would in itself be an honor.”
At this moment.
A slightly abrupt female voice suddenly interrupted the conversation.
“There’s no need for brother Carl to be so cautious, right?”
“Nona?”
Everyone turned their attention to the back of the line.
A slightly younger girl with short golden hair leaned against the wall.
She turned her head disdainfully to the side, completely disregarding any formality or etiquette.
Nona Light is Carl Light’s full-blood sister. Hearing her brother speak this way, she felt a bit displeased.
Moreover, Nona reached the Eighth Stage at the age of nineteen, enough to be called a genius.
“To me, it’s not a big deal. Compared to brother Carl guarding the frontier for years, Xiya Light has been in the comfortable zone of the capital for so long; the Demon Princess might not be as terrifying as the rumors say. What if, given the chance to face the Demon Princess, I could take her down easily!”
Hey, I really…!
So that’s why Xiya was holding my hand!
This little girl, who knows how many cakes she’s had, is speaking nonsense here. Let’s not even mention who could take whom down—would she dare to compare eating capacities?!
Carl Light looked back at his little sister and shook his head helplessly.
He turned back to apologize to Xiya Light.
“Sorry, cousin… Nona has this sort of character. Even though she’s only a year older than you, she behaves so recklessly, so you mustn’t take it to heart.”
“It’s fine. We are all working for the kingdom, and it’s not about words.”
“Ahahaha… indeed, indeed.”
Ha… cousin Xiya has definitely become more eloquent.
Carl could tell that cousin was saying—“Everything should be judged by actions, not just words.”
For some reason, it felt like after talking about the Demon Princess, cousin Xiya seemed very angry…?
Ew, Princess Xue Fei increasingly felt these people were hypocritical.
You clearly feel sour, don’t you?
Miss Shaya shook her head repeatedly.
Including this Carl Light, he clearly already knew about Xiya’s achievements; it’s not like news from the border isn’t passed through. He was fully aware, yet he pretended to be surprised… really lacking in honesty! If you’re not happy, wouldn’t it just be straightforward to settle it with a fight?!
Sigh… this is why I say humans really can’t be as straightforward as my Xiya.
Of course, Carl Light noticed the little girl being held by Xiya’s hand.
He didn’t think of asking before.
But seeing her continuously sighing and shaking her head, Carl furrowed his brow, his blood pressure unconsciously rising, and finally couldn’t resist bringing it up.
“By the way, cousin… who is this little girl? Can you introduce her to us? She looks unfamiliar.”
